DES MOINES, Iowa – A gigantic storm dumped more than a foot of snow across much of the Midwest and New England as it marched eastward Wednesday, creating blizzard conditions, burying cars under huge drifts and providing ammunition for a massive campus snowball fight in Wisconsin.

Even more snow fell in some areas, with 16 inches reported in Des Moines and nearly 19 inches just south of Madison, Wis. Gusts of up to 50 mph created snow drifts between 8 and 15 feet tall and even knocked down a two-story Christmas tree in downtown Champaign, Ill.

The storm was blamed for at least 16 deaths, most in traffic accidents. Hundreds of schools canceled classes, power was knocked out to thousands of people from Missouri to New York and hundreds of flights were canceled.

In the Twin Cities, where about 6 inches of snow fell and the wind chill dipped to minus 9 degrees, Kent Barnard eased a massive orange snowplow into traffic in the suburb of Arden Hills on Wednesday morning. He dropped the right wing of the plow down onto the shoulder, making a grinding sound as the wing sent out a spray of snow.

"You gotta watch it because some people try to sneak up around you," Barnard said. "They'll see that big orange flashing truck coming and go, 'I don't want to get caught behind that thing.'"

The storm felt like a rude surprise after an unseasonably warm and dry November in parts of the region. The massive system is the first major blast of wintry weather for many parts of the Midwest.

"I've been dreading this day," said Kim Brust, shoveling the sidewalk in front of his Minneapolis home before sunrise Wednesday. "I was starting to enjoy the global warming."

At least 3,000 University of Wisconsin-Madison students took advantage of an unplanned day off and hurled snowballs at each other in a massive melee. Classes had been canceled for the first time in 19 years due to more than a foot of snow and blizzard-like conditions.

Some came holding trays as shields. Others were bundled up to protect themselves from the below-freezing temperatures and winds that gusted to more than 20 mph. Several went shirtless, though, while at least one had on pajamas.

"I figured with the day off, there was no better way to spend it than with a snowball fight," said Matt Moerel, 19, of Vadnais Heights, Minn.

Many New England residents braced for bone-chilling winds after digging out from a foot or more of snow. But Gavin Graham, 8, of Concord, N.H., spent two hours sledding.

"It was really good sledding. The snow was puffy, and that was really good because we had little jumps already made," he said. "It was awesome having the day off from school."

Up to 7 inches of snow fell in northeast Pennsylvania and 50 mph winds were recorded near Pittsburgh. High winds knocked down part of an abandoned four-story brick building in New Castle.

By the time the storm moves off the Maine coast Thursday night, it may have affected as much as two-thirds of the country, said Jim Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines. The storm also brought heavy rain and flooding to parts of the South.

In the West, pounded by the storm's rain and snow earlier this week, wind chills as low as minus 40 degrees swept across portions of southern Montana. The biting wind also moved across Wyoming and South Dakota, according to the National Weather Service.

Winds were expected to diminish Wednesday evening across the Midwest and blizzard warnings were nearly over. But dangerously cold conditions were to follow with temperatures falling to near or below zero overnight.

In northern New York, up to a foot fell on Wednesday and more than 3 feet was expected by the week's end. Areas in Maine and New Hampshire received up to a foot of snow, and warnings about winds of 40 mph to 50 mph were issued for coastal areas of Maine for Wednesday night, said Dan St. Jean, a National Weather Service Forecaster in Maine.

That's not what I said. Global warming leads to more extreme storms. Eventually, it the melting glaciers will dump more water from the arctic into the ocean, shutting down the ocean conveyor belt, and that will lead to another Ice Age.

But, since this planet's natural state is cold and ice, another ice age will be coming sooner or later anyway.

We had weather like this back in the '50's too and I remember my dad telling about a winter in HIS youth with snow piled 30 feet deep and CO2 emissions had nothing to do with it either time. It's a cycle the planet goes through. Look at the sahara desert. Did global warming cause the weather to change over the Sahara and make it a desert? If it did, it happened thousands of years ago before man was responsible for any "emissions". Where did all that sand come from then? Sand that deep and plentiful is formed at the bottom of the ocean. So how did it get to the surface and become this gigantic desert? People are in a panic about the changing climates but the earth has gone through this before.

Hi Qoias, in answer to your question, just because natural forces can direct the climate (and have in the past) does not mean that human beings can't have an effect on the climate, too.

All the other changes have happened more slowly, the current global warming is faster, and we know that the CO2 is from fossil fuels because it can be measured and has been found to be the kind of emissions put out through factories and cars.

We not only pollute the earth, we also heat up the earth, too! That is why temps have risen in a straight line since the Industrial Revolution, faster than at any point in recent history. If we keep it up, earth, as we know it, will be unlivable.